I was explaining our media strategy and describing our various delivery platforms to a prospect recently.  About halfway through (we have lots of ways to deliver media these days) he said, "You've digitized word of mouth!"

Wish I had thought of that.

But he is right--our media strategy is to reach you anywhere and anytime you want to be reached with the kinds of information you want to receive.  In today's world, some would say sadly, information reaches us everywhere, not just the office, and not just in office hours.  That is the reality of today's media delivery.  To keep up with the competition, no matter what our job is, we have to keep up with the information.

So, it can appear like we are delivering news about the worldwide pulp and paper industry just to you and just on your schedule.  That is deliberate on our part--to give you just what you want, no more no less.  I know we have readers who read only one or another of our publications and may not even be aware of the rest.  I know we have listeners who only listen to Pulp & Paper Radio International on their phones and never read a word we write.

That's fine and fits our philosophy just dandy.  As an advertiser, I hope you have the perspicacity to see how well that serves you, too.  If you engage with us across a menu of delivery platforms, your message will be read with eager eyes or heard with engaging ears by people who want to know what you have to say because it is carefully blended in with the rest of the news in an unobtrusive way.

It is like a word of mouth conversation, where, in the middle of the conversation your engaged partner puts in a "by the way."  

We have many "by the way" ways to reach our qualified and receptive audience.  There are conventional banner and button ads, placed near content of interest.  There are text line ads within original content.  Our White Papers Library ferrets out keenly interested individuals focused on specific topics.  We are working on an expanded supplier directory that will soon be the best in the industry.  Then there are specialized newsletters.  Finally, Pulp & Paper Radio International delivers seven shows a week eagerly heard by many around the world.

"Digitized word of mouth" has a nice ring to it--and is a great way to describe our reach to the worldwide pulp and paper industry.  If you are not in on the "conversation" I urge you to join us soon.

Jim Thompson is CEO of Paperitalo Publications.